Fitzgerald selected 20th overall in WNBA draft

Former guard Feyonda Fitzgerald became the fourth Owl to be selected in the WNBA Draft when the Indiana Fever selected her with the 20th overall pick on March 16 in New York. BRIANNA SPAUSE | PHOTO EDITOR

The Indiana Fever selected former guard Feyonda Fitzgerald with the 20th overall pick and eighth pick in the second round of Thursday’s WNBA draft in New York. FanRag Sports Network predicted Fitzgerald would be selected 18th by the Washington Mystics.

The Fever went 17-17 in 2016 and earned the fifth seed in the WNBA playoffs. Tamika Catchings, the league’s second all-time leading scorer, retired at season’s end.

In the 2016-17 season, Fitzgerald helped the Owls make their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2011. She started all 32 games, averaged 17.3 points per game, ranked Top 10 in Division I in assists per game and shot 82.7 percent from the free-throw line. Fitzgerald became Temple’s first Big 5 Player of the Year recipient since 2012 and the fourth All-American in program history.

Fitzgerald becomes the fourth Owl to be drafted. She is the first former Temple player to be drafted since Shey Peddy was a second-round selection in 2012. Fitzgerald will graduate as the program’s second-leading scorer and the career assists leader.

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